LUGANSK, September 18 (Lugansk Media Center) – There were no casualties in the Paratroopers Memorial explosion in Lugansk, the Interior Ministry said adding thought that the memorial itself has incurred massive damage.

A loud explosion was heard near the Ukrainian Drama and Music theater on Oboronnaya street at 8 p.m. today, breaking apart and setting on fire an armored assault vehicle, which is a part of the Memorial to Paratroopers.

Police, State Security and State Prosecution teams have been dispatched to the site, combing through the adjacent streets and cordoning off the area.

"The memorial has been seriously damaged, there were no casualties," the Interior Ministry said.

"Kiev authorities have no powers to fight a decent battle, so they are conducting a war against memorials", the minister of interior Igor Kornet said speaking in front of journalists and onlookers near the theater.

Lugansk has recently seen a series of explosions. On July 11, two terrorist attacks were carried out near World War II Heroes Square in Lugansk. A servicewoman was killed and five more people injured in the explosion of a bomb, which had been planted in a litter bin at the entrance to a food shop. On August 1, a powerful explosion hit central Lugansk damaging a monument to the Republic’s Defenders in the People’s Friendship Park.